I was lucky enough to be given a press preview disc of Face Off season four’s upcoming premiere — and what a treat it is. The upcoming edition, which has a 90-minute debut on Tuesday, features 14 all-new aspiring special effects makeup artists in one of television’s best reality shows that features absolute talent. While this season’s premiere episode isn’t as exciting as last season’s unpredictable turn of events in which Joe quit the competition, it is still a fun example of reality television at its finest. Within minutes of the 14 newbies gathering together, the competition begins with a big battle of royalty.

Both challenges in the premiere episode swirl around royalty — the first (for Immunity) involves creating a queen using a specific crown as inspiration; the second involves creating a king based on a specific geographical identity (swamp, etc.). Naturally, elements of the main competition feature the predictable troubles we’ve seen throughout the previous three seasons as the contestants primarily struggle with the amount of time they have to work on their creation.

The finished makeups include two of the strongest final creations the show has ever seen. Truly amazing talent. On the flip side, two of the finished makeups (and you’ll know which ones they are almost immediately) are really amateurish and weak. While the finished products were cool to see, the challenge was just lukewarm for me because the task’s motivation wasn’t my particular favorite. It just didn’t carry a big level of excitement that this show can deliver.

Unfortunately, that’s about as much as I can describe about the first episode without giving anything away. But one thing I do want to discuss is how two of the new contestants have extremely close ties to previous players. Within the first few minutes of the premiere episode, newbie Michael Garcia reveals in a confessional that his brother is season two’s Matt Valentine, who just so happens to be the guy who created one of my favorite Face Off creations of all time — the Tim Burton-inspired ice cream man. While that relationship is prominently showcased, the premiere episode actually never mentions the other bond in which newbie David “House” Greathouse is dating season two’s Beki Ingram. Strange that they would mention one and not the other, right?

Are you a Face Off fan? Do you have high hopes for the upcoming season? Of the 14 new contestants, who is your favorite player? Sound off and leave a comment below!

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